RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A bases-loaded walk tied it and a Brett Ott sacrifice fly capped a two-run fifth inning that gave Sacramento State the lead for good as the Hornet bullpen pitched six shutout innings en route to a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over California Baptist to even-up their Western Athletic Conference series on Saturday evening at Totman Stadium in Riverside, Calif.
Sacramento State improved to 23-29 overall and evened its conference mark at 7-7 in WAC play, snapping a three-game skid. The loss put an end to the Lancers' seven-game winning streak as CBU fell to 39-12 overall and 11-6 in league play.
The top three hitters in the Hornets' order all finished with two hits as Sam Harry, Erick Dessens, and Ryan Ellis set the table, combining for all six of the team's runs while also driving in a pair. Jace Jeremiah also added a pair of hits, while Cameron Sewell and Ott each added two RBI to help power the offense.
Senior right-hander Andrew Monson (2-2) picked up the win in relief of starter Kurt Marton, throwing two hitless and scoreless frames while walking one and striking out a pair. Marton threw the first three innings and struck out seven on the day.
Konner Entz added a scoreless sixth inning before giving way to freshman Trevor Wilson, who nailed down his fifth save of the year by scattering three hits over the final three innings. California Baptist had the tying run on base in each of the final three innings, but one was stranded at third in the seventh, Wilson induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth, and got a come-backer to the mound in the ninth for the final out.
After jumping out quickly with three runs in the second in Friday's opener, Sacramento State did the same with a trio of runs in the first on Saturday as back-to-back singles by Harry and Dessens brought Ellis to the plate, who doubled to the gap in left center to make it 1-0.
A Sewell sacrifice fly with the bases loaded added a second run and Ott made it 3-0 with a single to center to score Ellis.
An RBI groundout by Dessens staked the Hornets to a four-run lead, but the Lancers got all those runs back — and then some — with a huge third as the first six batters of the inning all reached safely with five of those coming around to score.Â
However, that outburst would be it for the CBU offense as Sacramento State put together the winning rally in the fifth. Dessens led-off with an infield single, moved to second on a single by Ellis, and both moved into scoring position on a ground ball.
After a pitching change, Jeremiah drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Sewell, who went ahead in the count 3-0 before drawing a six-pitch walk to drive home Dessens and tie the game. Ott then needed just two pitched to lift a fly ball into center, deep enough to score Ellis for the 6-5 advantage.
Monson then retired the side in order in the fifth, Entz worked around a lead-off walk and got a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play to end the sixth, and Wilson kept the Lancers in check the rest of the way.
Cameron Teper (6-2) suffered the loss in relief for CBU, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out two over 3.1 innings of work.
With his two hits, Dessens extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games while reaching base safely for the fourth consecutive contest — the latter standing as the second-longest streak by a Hornet this year behind Jeremiah's 19-game run.
Dessens (23 games), Harry (21), Ellis (9), and Jeremiah (12) all increased their multi-hit game totals, while Sewell (his fifth) and Ott (his fourth) added to their multi-RBI game totals for the year.
The rubber game of the series is scheduled for Noon on Sunday (May 10).
